Jeff Bezos racks up $16,800 in parking fines during DC castle renovation

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FOX NEWS - The richest man in the world is being forced to pay hundreds of parking fines amounting to $16,840 while renovating his lavish Washington, D.C., mansion.

Jeff Bezos --- whose fortune currently hovers around $126 billion, according to estimates by Forbes --- was handed 564 citations over the three-year renovation period, according to D.C. Department of Public Works records obtained by WUSA9.

Bezos was issued the fines between October 2016, when he purchased the former Textile Museum in the Kalorama neighborhood, to October 2019, when the renovations began to wrap up, according to the records.

Over 90 tickets were reportedly issued in April 2018 alone.

The Kalorama neighborhood is known as one of the most expensive and exclusive areas in the District of Columbia, with many notable figures calling the enclave home including the Obamas and Ivanka Trump.

Bezos purchased the 27,000 square-foot property for $23 million in an all-cash deal, $1 million more than the asking price, according to The Washington Post.

After purchasing the property, the Amazon founder and Washington Post owner began the $12 million renovations to finish with a 34,000-square-foot abode featuring 11 bedrooms, ballroom, wine cellar, whiskey tasting room, movie theater and scores of light fixtures, WUSA9 reported.

An investigation revealed the tickets were issued for ignoring the city's "no parking signs" and for parking in spots that are solely reserved for residents, WUSA9 reported. Vehicles found blocking crosswalks were also ticketed. One truck owned by a company doing work on the property reportedly received over a dozen tickets spanning three weeks.

Over $5,000 worth of tickets remain unpaid, according to the report. However, a source close to the construction project told the outlet the unpaid fines had been addressed.

"All the outstanding tickets in question have been paid," the source told WUSA9. "From the start of the project, the general contractor worked to mitigate the parking challenges in the area by setting up off-site parking and shuttles to and from the site."

There are reportedly multiple "NO PARKING FOR CONSTRUCTION" signs in the area.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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